Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic play, The King and I, is playing at the Weston Playhouse for the next three weeks. This is the play that features such immortal musical numbers as “Whistle a Happy Tune,” “Hello Young Lovers,” “Shall We Dance?” and “Getting to Know You.”

The Weston Playhouse has been known for many years as one of the top playhouses in Vermont.

While you are in Weston, you will probably want to spend time at the famous Vermont Country Store and the smaller but more traditional Weston Village Store. I've been to both and enjoyed them. The Vermont Country Store can get crowded when the tour buses pull up but the store is big so people tend to spread out. There is a nice picnic area and woodland trails behind the store's parking lot for anyone in your group who is not a shopper.

The town of Weston is a very nice looking village and worth a visit anytime. Weston is located in the southeastern part of the state (Google map).

Even though there is only a few days notice on these next two items, I thought I would throw in a couple of more outdoor adventure camps devoted to women because of popular response to my post about Doe Camp Abnaki.

July 14, 2007 Ladies ONLY Shotgun Shooting Clinic at the North Country Sportsmen's Club, located on Gun Club Road, Williston, VT (near Burlington in the north west part of the state). There will be classroom safety instruction, trap range instruction, lunch, hunting tips, clothing, and the art of trap shooting.

The cost is an amazingly low $15. You better confirm that when you call to register! That $15 fee buys you two rounds of trap, loaner shotgun, ammunition, eye and ear protection and lunch. Clinic is rain or shine. Contact: Cindy Pease (802) 872-9508 (please, no calls after 8:00 p.m.) or via email at cindy.pease@verizon.net. A registration form is also available at the Club's website.

Photo (c) Extreme Adventures VT

July 15th- 20th - Women's Multi Sport Week, Hike, Kayak, Cave, Climb, & Raft for ages 18 and older, sponsored by Extreme Adventures Vermont. It costs about $960 more than the shotgun clinic above but you get a lot more too. In fact, it looks like a very good value considering everything the women campers get to do during the week.

If you are planning to go to the July 14 Billings Farm Children's Day I wrote about a few days ago, you may also be interested in the nearby Junior Ranger Program on Thursday July 12.

The Junior Ranger Program starts 2:30 pm at the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park Visitors Center in Woodstock VT. The Park is "next door" to Billings Farm and Museum. Boys and girls age 7 - 10 can take part in several activities guided by a park ranger and see what it is like to be a ranger.

Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller Park Visitors Center

The web site does not say what those activities are or how long the course lasts. In fact, the web site needs a lot of work to be informative and really show off all the assets of this great facility. Government bureaucrats are not marketers however, so the web site, although well designed, lacks enough information, especially photography, to enable viewers make an informed decision about whether it is worth seeing. So you'll have to trust me completely on this one, the park is definitely worth seeing. Click here for an events calendar.

The Junior Ranger Program is free. Reservations are not required but if you would like more information, or you don't know me well enough to trust me, you can call 802-45-3368 ext 22.

This is an educational and entertainment event that last year attracted about 3800 people from many states. Now in its 13th year, SolarFest focuses on solar and wind energy. There will be dozens of workshops, about 100 vendors, and musical entertainment.

The 22nd annual Children's Day at Billings Farm and Museum will be held this coming Saturday, July 14. Billings is a great family destination any time of the year but his event makes it even more special for children who will get an insight into what it was like to be a farm kid back in the old days.

Children and adults will get to watch and take part in traditional farm activities, horse-drawn wagon rides, games, farm animal programs, butter and ice cream making, fence building, wood sawing, stenciling muslin, making a quilt pattern, and coloring farm bookmarks to take home.

I think Billings Farm and Museum is one of the top places to visit in Vermont, and the town of Woodstock is one of the most beautiful in all of New England. Billings Farm is a highly well maintained and first class facility, and the Museum has many top quality displays.

Camp Abnaki in North Hero Island Vermont on the shores of Lake Champlain

Doe Camp is a project of the Vermont Outdoor Guide Association and Vermont Outdoors Woman devoted to teaching women outdoor skills in a friendly, non-competitive, female only environment (some of the instructors are male). The emphasis is on having a fun experience while gaining skills and developing friendships.

It is open to women 18 years and older and is held several times a year. The next camp is Sept 14 - 16, 2007 at Camp Abnaki, a YMCA camp on North Hero Island, Vermont right on the shore of Lake Champlain.

What is equally impressive as the number of courses is the cost. Thanks to generous sponsorships, Doe Camp is only $245, which includes food, lodging, and instruction. There is an extra fee for some programs and additional discounts for students, tenting, or drive-in. Scholarships are available.

Archery using woman-friendly equipment: learn how to select the proper equipment, technique, safety.

Fishing with live bait and lures on Lake Champlain: learn what to use for bait and lures to bring in the fish. Learn to read the water and where the fish are. Basic casting and retrieval techniques, lure choice, varieties of live bait, handling of fish.

Forest and land management: review Vermont forest history to understand what we have and where we might be headed. Take a forest tour to explore wildlife habitat, deer management, water quality, wilderness, and forest health issues, along with woodlot management.

Property boundary identification: learn how to find and follow a property line even in the depths of the woods.

Tree identification: learn to tell the difference between a pine tree and a hemlock, a red maple and a sugar maple. Learn to count the age of a tree, and how a forest evolves from one type to another over time. You will be able to name deciduous trees in the midst of winter even after their leaves have fallen to the ground.

Game cooking: learn quick, inexpensive and easy ways to cook up some venison the right way! Beginning with the basics of removing the meat from the bone and finishing up with some appetizing venison for lunch

Open fire camp cooking: learn how to cook on a campfire from starting a fire to knowing when the coals are ready.

Hunting skills: learn how to find your game after it is hit, and the techniques of getting something as large as a deer back to your vehicle without help.

Training hunting dogs: learn how to train a dog from a pup to a master hunting dog.

Critter calling: making various animal noises including ducks, moose, deer, turkey. Easy to do and always creates a lot of laughter.

Nature

Animal tracking: learn how to track and read the signs of wild animals.

Birding hike: learn waterfowl and songbirds and their habitats in woods and waters.

Handgun skills and marksmanship: Equipment will be provided. Beginning with firearm safety, become familiar with pistols, loading, unloading and safe handling in a real setting. Learn shooting techniques, have the opportunity to develop or improve marksmanship, and discuss how to find a range or club in your area and what events are available on both a local and state level for women interested in additional instruction or competition.

IPSC Pistol Shooting: introduction to the International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC) pistol shooting competitive discipline. In practical shooting, the competitor must try to blend accuracy, power, and speed, into a winning combination.

Muzzleloader skills and marksmanship: Equipment will be provided. Take a step back in time to learn about the pioneers' most important tool - the muzzleloading rifle. Gain experience; learn safety and proficiency with the modern caplock, traditional flintlock and matchlock muskets.

Rifle skills and marksmanship: Equipment will be provided. Beginning with basic firearm safety, become familiar with rifles, loading, unloading, and safe handling in a real setting. Learn shooting techniques and positions.

Shotgun skills and marksmanship: Equipment will be provided. Beginning with basic firearm safety, become familiar with shotguns, loading, unloading and safe handling in a real setting. Learn about the different shot-gunning clay fields of trap, skeet, and sporting clays.

Sports and recreational skills

ATV Rider four hour course is an introduction to the safe operation of an ATV including starting, stopping , turning, riding on hills, basic safety gear and environmental concerns.

Canoeing: learn paddling strokes for canoeing, and how to right an overturned canoe safely.

Kayaking: learn the basics of kayaking.

Bike tour: learn local island history while ridinge through the scenic back roads of North Hero Island.

Sailing: learn basic sailing including trimming the mainsail and jib as well as steering the boat.

War canoes: and introduction to war canoe racing, an exhilarating and demanding sport which descends from ancient cultural traditions. No racing involved. Learn to work as a team to maneuver large canoes through open waters of Lake Champlain.

Survival Skills

Orienteering & GPS: Learn how to find your way there and back with a map, a compass, and GPS. Work together as a team, and individually to locate earlier placed markers.

Personal security in the backcountry: learn skills that can reduce the hazards of traveling in the backcountry in a group or alone.

Wilderness survival: learn how to survive in the wild, including fire, compass, shelter, signaling, clothing, edible plants, water, equipment and much more.